quasicrystal: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	quasi-periodic crystal • quasicrystalline solid

Photos

Figure 1: Hexagonal lattice of atomic sites.

Figure 2: Pentagonal arrangement of atoms.

Three views of the icosahedral symmetry of quasicrystalline aluminum-manganese. (Top) View is along the fivefold symmetry axis; (centre) rotating by 37.38° reveals the threefold axis, and (bottom) rotating by 58.29° reveals the twofold axis.

Figure 4: A Penrose tiling.

A high-resolution electron microscope image of quasicrystalline aluminum-manganese-silicon, revealing a fivefold symmetry of atomic positions.

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Topics

quasiperiodicity Penrose tiling solid adsorption corrosion crystal amorphous solid elasticity hole permeability surface grain

Key People

Daniel Shechtman

Daniel Shechtman

Israeli chemist